Pettitions Procedure if over 18

Submitting a paper petition

You can submit a paper petition by email, by post or by hand.

Please find provided a template petitions form (41kb, MS Word) for your use.  Your petition should be titled and include a statement of no more than 250 words which covers its purpose and details the results you would expect to achieve by presenting it.

It must meet the required criteria laid out in the guidance provided (823kb, PDF) and
must include the following:

  • your name or the name of the principal petitioner who must live in Moray (so we can
    check eligibility)
  • you or the principal petitioner’s address - all communication will be sent here
  • the name, address and signature of any person supporting the petition


Paper petitions should be typewritten or completed using a black pen. If you have
any problems filling in the form, please contact Committee Services.


Online petitions

Online petitions can be submitted using our e-petitions website. Once approved your petition will be live for a month. Approval will take around 10 working days and will make sure the proposed petition is valid and meets the criteria. People who want to sign will have to register first using their name, address and email address - they must live in Moray or be affected by the issue the petition is about.

Online petitions will display the following:

  • title/subject of the petition
  • the principal petitioner’s name
  • the start and closing date

The Clerk to the Committee will notify the person who registered the petition (the principal petitioner) once a petition has reached the required number of signatures.

What happens next

Once your petition has been approved a committee date will be allocated. This will depend both on the workload of the committee and also the time taken to complete the validation process.

The Principal Petitioner will be invited to appear before the committee to speak in support of their petition to help the committee reach a decision. As a petitioner, you should indicate on the form if you want to make a statement to the committee.

You can speak for up to 5 minutes. 

Councillors on the Committee may ask you questions relating to the issue or issues that have been raised in the petition.

If you need any help making a statement to the committee, for example translation and or interpretation, please contact Committee Services in advance.

If the principal petitioner is not present, or does not wish to introduce their petition, then   the committee chairperson will briefly introduce the topic based on the information before them.

Information about attending the committee meeting, the format of the meeting and any other relevant information about access to the meeting will be provided to the principal petitioner in advance, so they know what to expect.

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